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Birder's News

  



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Bird Watching Walks Scheduled
May 14
Frances Oliver sent the following:

Yesterday Cliff Hawley & I started our day in Pike by birding along Ridge road then down Our House Dam Rd to the river. From here we drove some of the other neighboring road back to Hwy 49. Then along Hwy 49 through Downieville, Bassett Station, Yuba Pass and finally reaching Sierra Valley.

Some interesting observations: BH Grosbeaks, Hermit & Nashville Warblers, heard or seen as we drove along Hwy 49 in multiple places. In SV, along Hwy 49, mm 49.08 (also across from Lemon Canyon Rd) there is an area that was flooded that is great for shorebirds and ducks. The only bad thing is you have to catch them up in the air when flying since once they land they disappear into the grass.

It was a beautiful day! I will just summarize to make this report short for those reading it. FYI they are working on Hwy 49 after Downieville for many miles and have it shut down to one lane. It wasn’t bad yesterday but it could be horrible this summer with all the summer traffic up there.

Pike: Best birds were Purple Finch, BG Gnatcatcher, Wrentit, a “whitting” Gray Flycatcher (a migrant), BTG Warbler, PS Flycatcher. (Heard both AT Flycatcher & CA Towhee down the hill in Yuba, but here!)
Our House Dam Rd: we stopped at the first pullout ~.2mi from the top and found a pair of vocalizing TOWNSEND’S WARBLERS & another BTG Warbler; down by the river we had YB Chat & MacGillivray’s, Lazuli Buntings, & Cassin’s Vireo.
Nuttall’s Woodpecker was heard both along the Ridge Rd in Pike and along Our House Dam Rd. But we never could see it.
Yuba Pass: Lots of Cassin’s Finches in the CG area; Dusky FC, RB Sapsuckers, a WH Woodpecker across the road from the meadow; still looking for Pine Grosbeak!

SIERRA CO
Sierra Valley: Hwy 49, mm 49.08- Nice flooded meadow area on both sides of the road with a number of shorebirds that included Snipe, G Yellowlegs, Killdeer, multiple Wilson’s Phalaropes & 2 RN Phalaropes that flew over our car.
Sierra Valley: Hwy 49-mm 58 –a BN Stilt & 4 LB Dowitchers still remain.
Loyalton SP—52 Wilson’s Phalaropes, 13 LB Dowitchers
Poole Rd (Road that you turn on for Loyalton SP)—vocalizing COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, a few Yellow Warblers

PLUMAS CO.
Harriet Ln— some area are drying up but many ducks & shorebirds still remain; 24 Wilson’s Phalaropes
Dyson Rd—Barn Owl in Barn Owl box.
Dotta GuidicI Rd—a WHIMBREL & some LB CURLEWS.
HWY 49 S (right before Dyson Ln) – Burrowing Owl standing on a fence post.
Marbled Hot Springs Rd- many YH Blackbirds, 5 American Bitterns flying or standing in the marshy area.

 
May 8

Thomas Heaney:
Visited Maddalena Ranch on Sunday with the family and took the canoes out for a spin (or drag as it turned out, not surprising with the high wind and low water).  Managed to do a little spotting.

1 RED-SHOULDERED HAWK (cruising low over the brush)
11 CANADA GEESE (flying low and trying to maintain formation in the wacky wind)
1 OSPREY (hovering, which is interesting to watch given the size of the bird)
2 COMMON RAVENS
numerous BLACKBIRDS
1 MEADOWLARK (at the corral)
numerous TREE SWALLOWS (nesting in the boxes in the corral)
several WILLETS
1 MARSH WREN (which was a treat because he was just in front of the viewing stand singing and clearly visible just when the wind died down a bit allowing me to hear some other wrens also singing)
Saw what I think was an IBIS hanging out with 3 ducks all of whom were too far and silhouetted so difficult to discern.  But it was at least as big as the ducks with a curved bill, so I'm not sure what else it could have been.

Surprised not to hear or see any Yellow-headed Blackbirds.  Is it too early for them yet?  (Marcia Zeigler responded to this post: We saw hundreds of yellow headed blackbirds last week...Maybe they were on a coffee break?)

One other note -- swung by the pond at Quincy Junction Road and Chandler Road on Saturday.  Got to see an Osprey hard at work as well as two pairs of CANADA GEESE with their chicks (1 set seemed just a couple of days old while the other group was much larger, maybe a week or so old).

From Ryan Burnett:

PRBO’s field crews have been out and about training for point count season some highlights from last week:

HOODED ORIOLE – female on airport road in Chester Wednesday

BANK SWALLOWs – 4th AVE Chester

RED-BREASTED MERGANSER – Causeway in Chester

PERERGRINE FALCON – 4th AVE Chester

GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE – Aspen Street Chester – 6 males

WRENTIT – Indian Creek near Taylorsville T (also a few CHAT displaying here last week)

BARRED Owl – near Humbug Valley
May 7
Amber and Scott Edwards:
 

Hi Birders, yesterday after work we headed out to Sierra Valley for some late afternoon birding, saw some great birds even though we only had a few hours before nightfall. We found a SNOWY EGRET feeding with a Great Egret close to the Island Ranch on Harriet Lane. At the 2 bridges there was a CASPIAN TERN and 16 BLACK TERN flying overhead, a large group of about 35 silent dowitchers too far away in poor lighting to ID, a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, WILSON’S & RED-NECKED PHALAROPE right next to the road. We were unable to find the Blue-winged Teal. At the Marble Hot Springs Road Steel Bridge we found 5 AMERICAN BITTERN, 2 BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON, and 2 WHIMBREL! All around the valley the Willits are putting on quite a show and the SWAINSON’S HAWKS are back nesting in the same tree as last year at the Dyson Ranch house close to the junction with Harriet.

May 6

Tony Hall:

Today I saw a male wood duck in a willow bush in Clear Creek marsh.  Presumably his mate is in one of the nearby nest boxes incubating eggs.  Each year one to three male wood ducks spend a few days together in this willow bush while their mates incubate eggs in the nest boxes in the marsh.  I also saw a female Bullock's oriole in the same area.  For the last several years a Bullock's oriole has nested in a tree in the garden of the house that looks onto the marsh.  There are signs of a nest being built in the tree.
    We had an excellent bird walk along Spanish Creek on Saturday and I had an interesting experience.  I was on Spanish Creek road looking at northern rough-winged swallows through my scope.  They were alighting on roots sticking out from the earthen bank of Spanish Creek.  There was a hole at the back of the roots.  Suddenly there was a flash of blue and a belted kingfisher flew through the swallows and into the hole.  It stayed in there for quite a while before it flew out.  Presumably it has eggs or young in the hole.
    On Friday just before noon I saw a pile of white stuff at the back of Hansen's pond.  I looked through my binoculars and saw that it was a heap of nine interlocked sleeping American white pelicans.  Presumably they had had an exhausting flight.  Later in the day they separated and began looking for food in the pond.  They spent the night in a clump behind the island in the pond.


Scott and Amber Edwards:

Hi Birders, yesterday we had a great day on the Audubon Gansner Park trip led by David Arsenault, here is the list of all the birds we saw, David & River also had a Golden-crowned Sparrow. If anyone who was on the trip would like me to share this checklist on ebird please send me your email. Amber
 
Gansner Park--Sewage Ponds, Plumas, US-CA
May 5, 2012 7:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
Comments: Audubon Trip led by David Arsenault
61 species

Canada Goose (moffitti/maxima) 18
Wood Duck 4
Gadwall 6
Mallard 6
Ring-necked Duck 4
Bufflehead 12
Common Goldeneye 1 female
Ruddy Duck 2
California Quail 2
Eared Grebe 2
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Osprey 2
Red-tailed Hawk 2
American Coot 40
Killdeer 1
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Wilson's Phalarope 1
Eurasian Collared-Dove 1
Mourning Dove 2
Rufous Hummingbird 1
Calliope Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-breasted Sapsucker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 3
Black Phoebe 2
Cassin's Vireo 1
Warbling Vireo 12
Steller's Jay 2
Black-billed Magpie 1
American Crow 2
Common Raven 2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 4
Tree Swallow 10
Barn Swallow 1
Cliff Swallow 10
Pygmy Nuthatch 4
Bewick's Wren 1
House Wren 2
American Dipper 5 2 adults, 3 fledglings
American Robin 22
European Starling 1
Cedar Waxwing 4
Yellow Warbler 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 6
Hermit Warbler 1
Spotted Towhee 3
Song Sparrow 12
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 5
Black-headed Grosbeak 5
Red-winged Blackbird 5
Brewer's Blackbird 4
Brown-headed Cowbird 3
Bullock's Oriole 2
Purple Finch (Western) 3
House Finch 1
Pine Siskin 2
Lesser Goldfinch 8
American Goldfinch 1
Evening Grosbeak 3
May 3

From David Arsenault:

This morning I saw 10 VAUX'S SWIFTS in downtown Quincy.  They nest in a number of chimneys in town including the Plumas Unified School District office building.  Interestingly, only one pair nests in one chimney no matter how large the chimney is.
 
May 2
 

Marcia Ziegler writes:

Last evening we were out yesterday along Marble Hot Springs Road and saw

8-10 WILSON'S PHALAROPE
1 OSPREY  on top of the telephone pole near the steel bridge eating a fish 
a pair of RUDDY DUCK
3 pair of MALLARDS
30-50 YELLOW HEADED BLACKBIRDS (first we've seen them this year)
10 KILDEER
5 SANDHILL CRANES
2 EGRET
25 AMERICAN PELICAN
1 GREAT HERON
50+ WHITE FACED IBIS
3-5 DOWITCHER
3 AMERICAN BITTERN
1 NORTHERN SHOVELER
We sat on the viewing platform at Maddalena and watched what we thought was either a Muskrat or river otter fishing. And then watched a HUGE skunk grubbing in the open fields.

There is a large SANDHILL CRANE nest in the ponds on the north side of the road that connects 89 to A23....The pair are deep cinnamon in color. 
May 1
 

Ryan Burnett sent this post yesterday:

I heard my first YELLOW WARBLER singing this morning.  Before last year I had a streak of 5 years of the first arrival being on April 25th then last year it wasn’t until 5 of May or something.  I also had a WILSON’S WARBLER singing behind the house Saturday which is the earliest I have detected one of those in my 8 years here. 

April 30

Just received two more posts. Keep checking back for the latest birding news!
 

Tony Hall

On our glorious days birding in Sierra Valley yesterday Terry, Jerry and I saw intermediate morph Swainson's hawks.  Note that the some field guides do not show this morph, i.e. Sibley's and Peterson's, whereas the National Geographic does.  We also saw a muskrat.

Colin Dillingham

I had an enjoyable day in Sierra Valley yesterday. The weather and birds
were spectacular. Highlights were:
10 GREAT EGRETS along Marble Hot Springs Rd - not sure if I've seen that
many here in summer. I wonder if there isn't a colony nearby, perhaps a
new one.
1 MERLIN, 1 BLUE-WINGED TEAL and 1 BLUE-WINGED x CINNAMON TEAL HYBRID along Harriett Lane. To see photos, click on the links to my ebird
checklists.
http://www.ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S10575989
http://www.ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S10575908
In Sierra County, there were a few shorebirds about. Highlights were:
WILSON'S PHALAROPE at Loyalton Sewage Ponds and DOWITCHERS
at the overlook West of Loyalton along Hwy 49, immediately west of Genasci
Lane. There may have been SB dowitchers in there as others had reported, but I only made out LB dowitchers in the flock and they were relatively far away and were silent (at least not loud enough to hear over the cacophony of Canada Geese).
http://www.ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S10576131
http://www.ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S10576044

Overall a wonderful day, with 87 species, including some American Valley birds I saw back near Quincy - including my first of spring BULLOCK'S ORIOLE at Quincy Junction/Chander Road intersection.

Terrry Williams:

It was a beautiful day to be out birding in Sierra Valley today.  Tony, Jerry and Terry didn't get out until 1:30 pm, yet we ID 57 different species from roads in the valley.  With the help of Tony's scope we saw three whimbrels on Dotta Guidici Road and several long billed curlews. We saw a burrowing owl on Dyson Lane, and five American Bitterns on Marble Hot Springs Road.  The bitterns were an unusual study.  All five were out in the open not hidden in brush.  And, all of them were making the thumping noises, sounding like displaying sage grouse. The Swainsons Hawk must be returning to their nesting grounds; we found three on poles as well as a golden eagle circling overhead. 

Seeing 57 birds in one day really reinforces the significance of  Sierra Valley as an important bird area.  Overall, it was a great day to be out birding!

Scott and Amber Edwards:

Hi Birders, yesterday a DUSKY FLYCATCHER was down the hill from our house towards Spanish Creek where Chandler Rd goes around the hill after crossing the bridge, and at Gansner Park we saw 2 adult AMERICAN DIPPERS feeding 3 fledglings, yes 3! We observed them from the pedestrian bridge, the fledglings were dipping compulsively while perched on rocks and old pilings under the HW 70 bridge right below their nest spot, we had great views with binos - there is no need to get closer than the pedestrian bridge and risk disturbing the birds to observe them. The baby dippers were adorable!

April 28
Scott and Amber Edwards:

Hi Birders, today we found our first of the year WARBLING VIREO  along the bike path near the back edge of Gansner Park.

  

We also found a singing LAZULI BUNTING, several NASHVILLE & BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS, a displaying CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD and a FOX SPARROW along Mt. Hough Road at the junction of 24N80 about a mile from the start of the road.

Tony Hall:
 

I saw some nice chipping sparrows among ponderosa pines along Clear Creek road.